In the Eye of the Storm (7 page)

“Want some?” he asked.

“I can get it.” Beau headed for the coffee pot and filled himself a cup.

“There’s cereal in the cabinet or eggs and stuff in the fridge,” Kylie said, smiling halfway. “I was a little nauseous this morning so I didn’t feel like I could handle cooking.”

“I’m not hungry. I’ll grab something later,” Beau said, sending her a worried glance. “Everything okay?”

“It’s fine. I haven’t had very much morning sickness really. It comes and goes.” She shut the newspaper and turned toward him. “So I saw Kate’s car is still out front.”

“I took her home. I didn’t want her wrecking her car again.”

“Good call,” Trey said, amused.

“So what do you think of her?” Kylie asked.

Knowing where she was going with this, he frowned. “Do you try to set her up with every man you know?”

“She does,” Trey confirmed. “I told you he wouldn’t be interested, baby. She’s not his type.”

His attention piqued. “Since you appear to consider yourself an expert on the subject, just what is my type, big brother?”

Trey shrugged. “Truth? Playboy bunny blonde. That’s the only kind of woman I’ve ever seen you with.” a breakfast fit for a king. t4I

Kylie scowled at Beau.

“I don’t have a
type
,” he said in his own defense. “If I like a woman, I like her.”

“And you don’t like Kate,” Kylie figured aloud.

“I didn’t say I don’t like her.” Boy would she be shocked if she’d seen them on Kate’s front porch the night before.

“Baby, let it go,” Trey said, catching on to his brother’s irritation. “He’s leaving eventually anyway.”

“That sounds familiar,” she said, giving him a knowing look.

“You and I were different.”

“He’s right,” Beau said, giving her half a smile anyway. He knew her heart was in the right place.

“Okay, if you say so.” She looked disappointed.

Beau exchanged glances with Trey, who mouthed
hormones.

“Shut up, Trey,” she said, glaring at him.

“I didn’t say anything,” he replied innocently.

“I
saw
what you didn’t say.” She got up from the table and walked off down the hall.

Beau let out a whistle. “Way to get yourself into the doghouse, bro.”

“She’ll be fine in ten minutes. Her hormones are all over the place at this point. So do you want to tell me what’s got you worried?”

As usual, Trey could read him like a book. He didn’t bother trying to deny anything. “I got a call from the Arlington PD. There was another break-in at my house last night.”

Trey swore. “What’s the story?”

“The
burglar
kicked in some doors and broke some windows. Apparently, some of my memorabilia is missing. I don’t know how much since I’m not there. Same MO as last time.”

“And he got away,” Trey figured out.

“Yep. Just like all the other times. The alarm sounded, for all the good it did.”

“Have you thought about hiring private security, man—I mean until this is all sorted out?”

“I had security at home and on the road. I was happy to get rid of them when the season ended. I don’t like people in my personal business—especially literally breathing down my neck.”

“This guy is dangerous, Beau. All it takes is one time when you’re caught off guard and—”

“I can take care of myself.” Beau set his coffee cup in the sink. “I don’t suppose you mentioned to Richard, the importance of keeping my visit here quiet.”

Trey frowned. “I did. Richard doesn’t worry me.”

“No one else knows I’m here. But if you’re concerned, I can take off.”

“You’re not going anywhere. I told you before, I think you are safer here. At least I can watch your back.” Trey set his cup in the sink next to Beau’s. “Promise me you won’t go off half-cocked and split without talking to me first.”

“I’ll tell you if I decide to make him feel better. ed to dito go,” Beau promised. “I have endorsement deals I have to honor. I won’t be able to stay forever.”

“We’ll work that out then.”

Kate started in on her second cup of coffee, a frown in place on her face, much as it had been when she’d gotten out of bed that morning. She was irritated with the fact that she’d all but thrown herself at Beau Callahan the night before. The whole situation was embarrassing. A guy like him was way out of her league and yet she’d still managed to jump into things with both feet. She barely knew the man and she’d almost gone to bed with him. What had come over her?

It had to be lust. He was a hot guy and she’d been without a man in her life for too long. At least she’d been without a man in her life that actually brought her blood to a boiling point the way Beau Callahan seemed to be able to do.

Still, practically attacking him on her front porch had been highly inappropriate—even if he had kissed her first. He was her best friend’s brother-in-law and he was in Riverdale temporarily. Those were two ingredients for a recipe for disaster.

Scowling, she looked at the mess in her living room. Clothes she’d tossed aside over the past few days were strewn from one end of the room to the other. Several pairs of shoes were waiting on the floor anxiously to trip her, likely when she least expected it. She needed to clean up. But then she
always
needed to clean up. She was a slob. Both Richard and Kylie had told her so on more than one occasion. They were right; she hated cleaning.

Hearing the phone ring, she glanced at the caller ID.
Richard.
She answered on the third ring. “I’m trying to clean my house. What do you want?”

Richard chuckled at that. “Yeah, right. You’re drinking your morning coffee and sitting on your ass.”

“What do you want?” she repeated, knowing he wouldn’t ever buy the house cleaning thing.

“I called to find out what happened last night.”

“What do you mean
what happened
?”

“Don’t be coy. I saw you leave with Beau Callahan in the middle of the night.”

Of course, he had. Richard was the biggest busybody she knew. “It was not the middle of the night—and he merely drove me home.”

“Really?” Richard sounded disappointed.

“He was worried about me driving after having wine. End of story.”

“That’s almost believable. You drive like crap even when you’re completely sober.”

She rolled her eyes. “You obviously think I’m lying. Exactly what kind of answer are you fishing for?”

“Let’s face it, he’s hot. And he’s rich.”

“What’s your point, Richard?” She tossed her coffee cup into the sink with the rest of the week’s dirty dishes.

“I already gave you my points—two of them;
rich, hot.
”

She rolled her eyes. Richard was simple, she’d give him that. “I’m not interested.” She repeated those words inside her head three more times.

“Why not?”

“Because, he to make him feel better. ed to di’s not my type.”

“What is your type then? Because for the life of me, I have dug through thousands of men trying to find it and have been unsuccessful up to this point.”

“Gay men don’t like women,” she told him crassly. “You keep trying to set me up with gay men.”

“All my friends are not gay, Kate. You’re stereotyping.”

“Wick is gay,” she insisted.

“He’s quite offended that you think so,” Richard informed her. “He’s a little feminine now and then, but one hundred percent hetero.”

“Well, maybe now that he knows how he comes across he’ll man up a little—and not by grabbing and groping.” Kate leaned against the counter. “This conversation isn’t going anywhere. I have things to do today.”

“Do you need a ride to get your car?”

“Yes,” she decided, knowing there was no way she was going to call up Beau Callahan and ask him for a ride. She didn’t want to bother Kylie and Trey on their last day off together before the work week either.

“I’ll pick you up in an hour. I’m looking forward to seeing your clean house.”

“Fat chance,” she said, and hung up.

By the time Richard showed up and they drove over to Trey and Kylie’s house it was noon. She was surprised to find Beau in the driveway, bent under the hood of her vehicle. Last she’d looked, the damage had been to the
back
end of the SUV.

“Nice ass,” Richard said, raising a brow and wiggling it.

“Will you just shut up and go home!” she hissed, climbing out of the car. After shooting a knowing look in her direction, Richard drove off to his own house. Kate stalked up to where Beau was standing. “What are you doing?”

He looked up, his brown eyes locking on hers. “I didn’t know you were on your way over. I’m almost done.”

“Would you mind telling me what you’re
almost done
with?”

“I changed your oil and your spark plugs. Don’t you ever do any maintenance on this thing?”

She thought that over. She’d had the rig serviced not that long ago. Well, maybe it had been longer than she thought. Regardless, she frowned at him. “I didn’t ask you to do all that. How much is it going to cost?”

He straightened, wiping some grease off his fingers with a rag. “I’m not worried about the money. It needed to be done and I was sitting around doing nothing.”

Dammit, why was he being nice again? She had come over here with the idea of copping major attitude. Now she was going to have to be civil.

“The words you’re looking for are
thank
and
you
,” he told her, grinning halfway before turning back to her engine.

She scowled in spite of the fact that she knew she should be nice. “I know how to show gratitude.”

He raised a brow, but didn’t comment.

“Thank you,” she said, the words low but discernible.

“You’re welcome. I didn’t get a had the decency to wincean just chance to check your brakes but if they are in half as bad a shape as the rest of your car, they’ll need to be done too.”

She watched him tighten something up with a wrench. “Why do you play baseball if you like working on cars so much?”

“Because there’s a whole hell of a lot more money in professional baseball than there is in mechanics.”

“I thought it wasn’t about the money,” she reminded him.

“It’s not. I love playing ball too.”

And that was that, she figured. Realizing she couldn’t exactly go anywhere until he was finished, she leaned back against her car door.

“About last night—” he began.

She cut him off. “Forget it. I acted like an ass.” Had she really just said that? From the look on his face, he was surprised too.

“We just got caught up in a weird moment,” she added, knowing she was babbling on. He was staring at her strangely and it was making her nervous. “It was late and we’d been drinking. I’ve already forgotten about it.”
So shut up,
she told herself silently and immediately shut her mouth.

“For what it’s worth, I acted like a jerk too. Let’s just start over.”

She supposed that was better than walking around awkwardly all the time—not that they wouldn’t end up doing that anyway. “So how long are you planning to stay?”

He shrugged. “Not sure. I have some work in New York I have to tend to sooner or later. For now I’m going to get a little R&R.”

An idea popped into her head. “I don’t suppose your R&R could consist of making the dreams of twenty-eight second graders come true, could it?”

Apparently finished under the hood, he let it shut with a slam. “What are you getting at?”

“A personal appearance. Or do you have to go through your agent for that?”

He was quiet a moment. “Usually, yes, he sets all that up.”

“So your answer is no then?” It wasn’t like he owed her any favors. She was the one who owed him.

He looked mildly uncomfortable. “I’m kind of trying to keep a low profile here, Kate. If word gets around that I">He apparentl

6

By the time Monday morning came, Kate’s mood had improved a little. In spite of her hatred of cleaning, she had come home Sunday afternoon and picked through the mess she called a house. She’d cleaned the bathroom and washed the dishes. She’d even washed several loads of clothes. Naturally, her washing machine was giving her problems but she managed to kick it into submission. She now had all five outfits picked out and clean for the week.

She even managed to get to school half an hour early, which for her, was unheard of. Armed with a latte in one hand and a bagel in the other, she settled down in her classroom and began going over her lesson plans.

A light tapping on her door interrupted her a few minutes later. She recognized a parent standing just inside the room. Marcia Pendleton, if she remembered right. David Pendleton, a bright eyed but rather precocious young man, was a member of Kate’s class. He had also been the recipient of a reprimand on Friday for kicking another student. This wasn’t the first reprimand he’d received. He was regularly kicking, biting and pushing the other children.

“Ms. Nyland? I’m sorry to barge in on you but I thought we should talk about the incident that occurred on Friday. David is waiting in the hall so we can have some privacy.”

Kate figured David should probably be in on the conversation since it was his bad behavior in question, but she wasn’t his mother. She waved Mrs. Pendleton in and stood.

“I have to tell you that David’s father and I were very upset to find out David had gotten into trouble again. Since the last time, we thought things had gotten better.”

“David is a good boy most of the time,” Kate said, motioning for Mrs. Pendleton to sit down. “Most of the instances of bad behavior have come after recess or group activities.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to say,” Mrs. Pendleton said, frowning.

“Basically that David doesn’t like to work or play with the other children. He prefers to have his own area and be by himself.”

Mrs. Pendleton narrowed her eyes. “David has a lot of friends. He tells me all about them.”

Sure he does,
Kate thought. She knew for a fact that David spent most of his time alone, behind the big toy out back. She didn’t tell Mrs. Pendleton that. “No one dislikes him, Mrs. Pendleton. He simply doesn’t prefer to share or be a part of our group activities.”